I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet. A cracker of a book. Recommended.
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Monthly Mini Review
Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert – B+ A light-hearted, funny, sexy Halloween-themed novella full of girl power where, no matter that the trope is fated mates, consent matters.
Luke Anthony is a werewolf who has the scent of his mate in his nostrils. Unfortunately, Chastity Adofo, his mate, comes from a family of Huntresses and is planning on killing him to cement her place in the family. She alone of all of her sisters has not been allowed to hunt because a witch prophesied at her birth that her first kill would “rip out her heart”.
The world building is somewhat unique among the oeuvre and very feminist – the women do the hunting and the men of the family are all caretakers and deeply in touch with their emotions. In this universe werewolves are largely solitary and, until they meet their mates, are not sexual. Luke doesn’t get an erection until he smells Chastity (and thereafter, it basically won’t go away. Of course.) Continue reading
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of A Rancher’s Bride by Vivian Arend. Just proves – again – why this author is an auto-read for me.
Why I read it: I received a review copy via NetGalley.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Elliott Thompson was once a historian with a promising academic future, but his involvement in a scandal meant a lost job, public shame, and a ruined love life. He took shelter in his rural California hometown, where he teaches online classes, hoards books, and despairs of his future.
Simon Odisho has lost a job as well—to a bullet that sidelined his career in law enforcement. While his shattered knee recovers, he rethinks his job prospects and searches for the courage to come out to his close-knit but conservative extended family.
In an attempt to manage his overflowing book collection, Elliott builds a miniature neighborhood library in his front yard. The project puts him in touch with his neighbors—for better and worse—and introduces him to handsome, charming Simon. While romance blooms quickly between them, Elliott’s not willing to live in the closet, and his best career prospects might take him far away. His books have plenty to tell him about history, but they give him no clues about a future with Simon.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): The Little Library is a fairly quiet book, gentle rather than action-packed and told from the perspective of Elliott Thompson. Elliott has a habit of buying books on Amazon when stressed and given his recent history he’s stressed a lot. He was in a closeted relationship with a professor at his previous university and that guy, it turned out, was embezzling funds. Elliott was accused by association but eventually exonerated – he really didn’t know anything about it. He exited the university and moved back to his home town of Modesto in California, where he teaches online community college courses as an adjunct. His ex is in prison. He is looking for a tenure-track position at a research university but the field is a tough one and his reason for leaving his last job works against him.
Continue reading
I’m over at AudioGals with a review of It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time by Kylie Scott, narrated by Andi Arndt. Older man/younger woman romance.
Why I read it: The book came up in a recent #RomBkLove discussion about unlikeable heroines. Apparently some people thought Helen was unlikeable. I have no idea why. I didn’t find her remotely so.
Content Warning: Sexual assault (not by hero).
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Six years ago, to the outrage of her family and the delight of London gossips, Lady Helen Dehaven refused to marry the man to whom she was betrothed. Even more shockingly, her refusal came on the heels of her scandalous behavior: she and her betrothed were caught in a most compromising position. Leaving her reputation in tatters and her motivations a mystery, Helen withdrew to a simple life in a little village among friends, where her secrets remained hers alone.
For reasons of his own, Stephen Hampton, Lord Summerdale, is determined to learn the truth behind the tangled tale of Helen’s ruin. There is nothing he abhors so much as scandal – nothing he prizes so well as discretion – and so he is shocked to find, when he tracks Helen down, that he cannot but admire her. Against all expectations, he finds himself forgiving her scandalous history in favor of only being near her.
But the bitter past will not relinquish Helen’s heart so easily. How can she trust a man so steeped in the culture of high society, who conceals so much? And how can he, so devoted to the appearance of propriety, ever love a fallen lady?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Helen Dehaven has been living in in the small village of Bartle-on-the-Glen for the past six years after scandalously breaking off her engagement after she had clearly been “ruined” by her fiance. It is clear that she was raped by him but that hardly mattered in terms of society’s expectations. Unfortunately Helen did not get any support from her brother, who did not believe her story. So Helen has been fending for herself, using a small trust left to her by her grandmother. It is barely enough for her to live on.
Stephen, Lord Summerdale (he’s an Earl) comes to Bartle-on-the-Glen to find out the truth behind the scandal, on a commission of sorts from her brother. He quickly comes to believe that Helen’s brother, Alex, wants to reconnect with her and is using a business deal as an excuse to do so. It is also clear that Alex’s wife, Elizabeth, is a big factor in compelling action in this regard. Stephen has a reputation among the ton for knowing everything. He can ferret out secrets and know all the gossip but he is not a gossip. He is the epitome of discretion. If he says something is kosher, then people believe him without further explanation, such is his reputation. Stephen doesn’t like gossip but he does have a passion for the truth and the fact that Helen does not want to tell him her story nags at him like an itch which cannot be scratched. Continue reading
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
